I might have been able to negotiate a better deal, but the salesman at the used car lot smelled my desperation. It took too long for his mechanic to check her out and declare the engine sound. In the end, I walked out of there with six-thousand in cash for a car he’ll sell for three times that.

I dip into the stash for a taxi to get me to the hospital. The six grand won’t cover the whole bill but it might buy Diana the surgery, with a promise to pay off the balance later. Almost three hours after Kylie’s call, I hope it’s not too late.

When I punch her number, the call immediately goes to voicemail. I don’t leave a message and urge the driver to hurry.

I shoot through the glass doors of the hospital, frantically searching for the business office. I resist going to Diana’s room since it’s already after five and I’m afraid the business office will close. Turns out that was a good choice because a young woman in a navy-blue skirt and white shirt is locking the office door, bag slung over her shoulder.

“Wait!”

She startles when I shout and run toward her. Her expression says she doesn’t know whether to run from me or swing her purse in self-defense.

I hold up my hands to reassure her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I need to pay a bill. Now. I need to clear the account because the doctor said he won’t do surgery until it gets paid and I’m here and I’ve got money. Not all of it but I can get more and this is more than half, so here I am.”

I’m jabbering and running sentences together and her face shows I’m clearly some kind of lunatic. I hold out the cash. “Diana Lincoln.”

She presses her back against the door, eyes wide.

I breathe slowly. “I’m sorry. It’s urgent. Diana Lincoln.”

“Diana Lincoln.” Her eyes track me, but wheels are turning in her head. “Sir, that bill was paid earlier.”

“What? Who?”

She takes tentative steps around me, making an escape down the hall I’d run up. “I can’t tell you that. But it’s been taken care of.”

“Is Diana in surgery? Is she okay?”

She’s heading down the hall at a good clip and I stay with her. “I can’t say.”

It nearly kills me to take the time to stop at the front desk to get Diana’s room number and I trot down the corridor, searching the numbers, frantic to get to Kylie. I need to know she’s okay. When I finally find the right room, I stop in the doorway. There seems to be a party and I sort through the people playing dominoes, the two women in beds and food, blankets, pillows and clothes strewn around the room. There is one empty bed and a guy stands next to it, facing away from the door.

It’s Blake. The bed has to be Diana’s and she must be in surgery. But where is Kylie? Blake isn’t a fan of mine, so I don’t disturb him. Instead, I take a cab to Kylie’s house.

She’s not there.

With my heart pounding, I direct the cabbie to The Green Frog. Timothy hasn’t seen Kylie. He tells me she called earlier and said she and Diana had to quit. He’s not happy about the suddenness of their move, but, like me, is worried. It’s not like Kylie to be so flaky.

I’ve got no other choice now but to go back to the hospital.

The party is much subdued when I approach the room. I see why. Diana is tucked into her bed. Even from the doorway I can see the bruises on her face and her gray pallor.

I step into the room searching for Kylie. Where is she?

Blake looks up and his face morphs from concern to aggression. He shoots around Diana’s bed and comes at me full force. I hold up my hands, but he plants both of his palms on my chest and propels me back into the hall.

“You son of a bitch.” He growls it when I know he’d rather shout.

I shove him back and stand my ground. “I’m here to help.”

His fists clench like he wants to hit me. He can try but I can promise it’s not going to go the way he thinks. “Help? You’ve done enough, don’t you think?”

Blake’s a good guy. He’s trying to protect his friends. But I know how he feels about Kylie and he knows how she feels about me.

That means we can never be friends.

But I let it go because this isn’t about either of us. “How is she?” I say, shooting a look at the foot of Diana’s bed.

His face droops a little, as if I slapped him. “The fucker hit her so hard he ruptured her spleen. Raped her and dumped her in our front yard like a bag of trash. She’s broken.”

I look past him, and my gaze settles on the foot of the bed, a thin blanket tented by Diana’s feet. It makes it a little too easy to imagine Kylie in that bed. “Where is he?”

“What?” Blake sounds confused, like I’m speaking in tongues.

“The guy who did it.” I jerk my gaze away from the hospital bed and look at him. “Where is he?”

“Gone.” He frowns at me. “What are you doing here?”

I’m nowhere near satisfied with that answer but I swallow it. It doesn’t go down easy. “I’m here for Kylie. Where is she?”

“Can’t you just leave her alone?”

His tone stiffens the back of my neck. Like has the right. Suddenly, we’re back to taking verbal swings at each other. “Kylie and I are none of your business.”

“She’s my friend—that makes it my business.” His face turns to granite. “If you care about her at all, you’d stay the fuck away from her.”